Monday, October 20, 2008

I have been busy working on items for my upcoming craft fair and I love the new items and will be listing them in my etsy shop as soon as I am done with this show. I have been working hard on the new babydoll pillows and matching quilts and it has been so much fun putting them together. This is a great way to use up my noodles from swaps that I have been part of. I have so many it is hard to decide which ones to use first.

Coming Soon to quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com

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I love this new babydoll pillow I made for my craft sale. She makes a great gift for any little one and a wonderful bedtime buddy ready to have some sweet dreams.

I will be at the Live Oak Civic Center in Live Oak, TX on October 25, 2008 at the Randolph Air Force Base Officers Spouse's Club, "Deep In the Arts of Texas" Arts and Crafts Sale.

Monday, October 13, 2008

I slept in late this morning after staying up until 2:00 am waiting on my daughter to get off of work. She doesn't have a car so I had to go pick her up at 1:30 am, not my idea of a restful evening.

Today I went to Hancock fabric store and picked up a few odds and ends and some fabric for a tote bag for a Christmas gift. We went shopping and stopped at Whataburger to get something for lunch and then went home to start sewing up some potholders for the craft show.

I had posted pictures of my pin cushions and needle books in the Quilt In A Day forum and I actually got a sale from that. Someone on the forum sent me a message asking if I could sell them a set and send it to a friend of theirs as a gift. You never know where that next sale is coming from , so I guess it is a good idea to get your products out there as much as you can. I haven't had any more etsy sales so it felt good to see that buyers were approaching me from other sites.

Tomorrow I will be working on those pot holders and a few other kitchen items to go along with them. This is my attempt to add some lower price point items and hopefully an easy sell when it comes to the craft sale and my etsy shop. Somewhere between working on items, listing items and creating patterns I need to get caught up on my sleep, which may not be an easy thing to do. I feel as if time is running out to get things done for the craft sale on the 25th of this month and the more I want to do, the more that seems to come up to take my attention away from my work. I probably need to take a day off of working and just veg out in front of the television.

Friday, October 10, 2008

I know that I want to have a wider price point in my shop, especially for the upcoming craft sale, I need more items that people can give as gifts and not just buy for themselves. I spent today making pin cushions and needle books and tomorrow will be spent sorting through fabrics trying to get inspired.

I don't know if it is just a sign of the times and the economy that is keeping things from selling in my etsy shop. I had one sale and then nothing else has caught anyones eye, or so it seems. I will post some more stuff on Sunday and see how that goes, it certainly isn't time to start getting discouraged.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

I had my first esty.com sale this last weekend. I logged on to my etsy shop, quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com and was surprised to see a convo (message) from someone waiting for me. A customer wanted to know if I had other designs of the Halloween candy bags that I have listed, she wanted "non-scary" ones.

She purchased 5 bags, which really made my day. I have had my shop on etsy for about a month and a half and with no sales, I was beginning to think that it had been a big mistake. She even asked if I was doing some for Christmas, because she is interested in buying some then also.

I finished up the Christmas stockings last week so now I am concentrating on doing some of these Christmas gift bags and some Christmas gift totes. They make great eco friendly, reusable gift wrapping and, if I do say so myself, they are also very cute.

This bag is quilted in 100% cotton fabric and 100% cotton batting, measures 9 X 9 X 3 without the handles and will also be available as a custom item.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Well, my first show as a vendor was a bust. I guess it can be labeled as a learning experience of what type of shows to stay away from and that made it a success.

Don't get me wrong, I am not giving up and crawling away to hide, if anything it has made me more determined to find the right niche for my craft. I love being a quilter but there are only so many quilts you can keep for yourself, so I have to find a market for my creations.

The next show is at the end of the month and now I have to start adding Holiday items to my inventory but as always, I have more ideas than I have time to work. I have made up some Christmas stockings and have several others in progress along with some Christmas door decorations. I am devoting this week to small holiday decorations and next week I will move on to larger items such as lap quilts and wall hangings.

My shop at quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com is coming along nicely, although I have not had any sales yet. I am trying to rework the photographs and add some more inventory to both my on-line shop and my craft show items. I have started to check out other blog sites with similar interests as mine, I don't want to imitate anything but I do want to see what others are doing.